The night before Russian forces crossed the border into Ukraine, Igor Volzhanin met with a friend in a cafe in central Kyiv.
“We stayed there until midnight, we just talked,” the Canadian recalled in an interview with Ukraine. “I’m just talking about how, you know, we were joking about what we would have done if the war had started. There was deep concern, but I don’t think any of us really expected that to happen the next morning. “
On February 25, Volzhanin’s vacation in Ukraine was to continue with a Louis CK comedy show, and the next day he was to board a plane for France for a ski trip. But his plans changed quickly.
Russian forces launched an attack on February 24. A few days later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a call that was heard around the world when he asked people around the world to help his country fight Russia.
Volzhanin has no military experience, but he enrolled in the so-called International Legion of Defense of Ukraine anyway. He said he was the second of about 20,000 people from 52 countries to volunteer in the battle since then.
“I felt it was the right thing to do,” he said. “When the war broke out, I had the opportunity to leave the country. Basically, a car was waiting for me. And I felt like I was born in Ukraine. So this is my home in a way, and I felt like I wanted to protect it. “
The Canadians make up one of the largest groups of volunteers in the International Legion, next to those from the United States and Britain, according to a spokesman. The organization is growing and looking for more members with combat experience, even as the Canadian government and other Western powers warn their citizens not to fight in Ukraine.
But the legion is not just looking for experience, Volzhanin said. This is also motivation.
“You are the outsider, you get shelling, and the war is much more intense,” he said. “Death is a real possibility here.”
Volzhanin, a 34-year-old former technology entrepreneur who grew up in Mississauga, Ont., Was wearing a camouflage T-shirt on a recent Saturday, and by 7 a.m. local time, he was already busy for hours. When he was outside, he said he was wearing about 12 kilograms of body armor, which he described as “quite light”.
He handles the evaluation of candidates for the Legion, logistics and other duties, if necessary, he said.
He likened the legion to a “startup” – in a “positive sense” – in which it started at ground level to trigger things.
If he applied to join the legion now, he would not be considered for his lack of military experience, he added.
Former Liberal MP Boris Wrzesniewski is part of a group of volunteers who offered to help the Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa contact and check on Canadians who want to respond to Zelensky’s call for weapons.
Wrzesnewskyj said about 1,500 Canadians had applied to join the International Legion. But while interviews with prospective candidates began about a week ago after a temporary detention, Wrzesnewskyj said they had not yet been deployed.
“They’re just careful to make sure they have the right people,” he said. “It has been emphasized over and over again that these must be people who really have combat experience and that an appropriate interview and verification process is taking place.”
Most Canadians who have applied have no combat experience and will not be accepted, Vzesnevski added.
Volzhanin said he was “extremely” nervous when he first registered.
“I was scared because I had never served in the army,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect at that time in February. There were so many images and stories of people just getting their guns and sending them to the front. I didn’t know what to expect.”
Now that about six weeks have passed since he registered, he understands that “none of the military is interested in sending untrained soldiers to the front” and is much calmer and more comfortable.
Some Canadians have decided to bypass the official application process and head to Ukraine alone to fight. Wrzesnewskyj said there were previous reports of Canadians being wounded or killed in battle.
“None of them actually turned out to be right, as far as I know,” he said. “And we hope that will continue to be the case. But (for) those who will eventually focus, this is a real opportunity.”
Exactly when the Canadians will be stationed remains a mystery, but Wrzesniewski said volunteers are still needed, even as the conflict shifts from a complete invasion of Ukraine to a war for the country’s eastern and southern territories.
The Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa did not respond to requests for comment.
The legion has attracted veterans who have served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, the Balkan wars and people who have fought drug cartels in South America, Voljanin said. Unlike these conflicts, those in Ukraine cannot rely on air superiority and other advantages.
Those who join the legion must sign a treaty stating that they will remain until martial law is lifted. But there are several whose circumstances have changed and they are allowed to leave, Volzhanin said.
“No one keeps them in the legion against their will or desire.”
But what he is telling people is that Ukraine is at war and a country with very few resources that can be reserved for those who suddenly change their minds.
“So, if you’re already thinking, ‘OK, maybe I’ll do this for a limited time,’ think about how much resources the country will invest in you and whether you can contribute back.” at least the same or more, “he said.
“And if you know you’re coming in a week or two, then it’s just not worth it.”
The conflict has put him in perspective, and Voljanin said he wondered how it would affect him in the future.
On the morning of the invasion, he said he was in a grocery store where he saw several people dressed in designer clothes and wearing branded accessories. From that moment on, he said he doubted he could pick up the threads of this old life and return to the way things were.
“I remember thinking about how they lost all meaning. How not just out of place, but how meaningless these things became in eight hours, “said Volzhanin.
“And that’s true for a lot of people around the world. I watch the news and people’s lives and I think well, but it’s not a war. It’s not death.”
The thing that surprised him the most, Volzhanin said, was how quickly the attack began.
“It makes you realize how thin the line between normalcy and war really is,” he said.
“The night before you could just walk down the street and have people, there are cafes, bars, all open, people are enjoying, and then literally eight hours later you could find yourself in the military zone. There is something that you thought was stable, something that has been built over the years, it can simply be destroyed. For a moment.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on April 16, 2022.
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